Poverty Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich attacked Mayor Richard Riordan on Tuesday for making what he called reckless charges that county officials had neglected poor neighborhoods. Antonovich said it was Riordan, a fellow Republican, who had ignored the needs of the poor. "Mayor Riordan can serve his city better by bicycling in downtown Los Angeles--instead of the south of France--so he could see firsthand the horrible conditions," Antonovich said.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich attacked Mayor Richard Riordan on Tuesday for making what he called reckless charges that county officials had neglected poor neighborhoods. Antonovich said it was Riordan, a fellow Republican, who had ignored the needs of the poor. "Mayor Riordan can serve his city better by bicycling in downtown Los Angeles--instead of the south of France--so he could see firsthand the horrible conditions," Antonovich said.

Los Angeles County has one of the nation's highest rates of high-income households, but donations to charities are much more modest, the United Way reported Tuesday. The Southland ranks fifth among major metropolitan areas in donations to charities in general, according to tax records analyzed by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. The area ranks near the bottom when it comes to United Way donations alone.

Los Angeles County has one of the nation's highest rates of high-income households, but donations to charities are much more modest, the United Way reported Tuesday. The Southland ranks fifth among major metropolitan areas in donations to charities in general, according to tax records analyzed by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. The area ranks near the bottom when it comes to United Way donations alone.

In an unusual step, Contra Costa County officials here are proposing that welfare applicants be required to take a mental health test before picking up their checks. Advocates for the poor are threatening to sue, denouncing the plan as punitive and mean-spirited. "I think it's ridiculous," said Robert Newman, an attorney for the Western Center on Law and Poverty in Los Angeles.

The U.S. simply isn't keeping up with the rest of the developed world in life expectancy, new research revealed this week. And women in particular are backsliding, a trend attributed in part to obesity and smoking. But the devil is in the details. Some counties are keeping pace, while others have life expectancies similar to those of Honduras and El Salvador (i.e., not great). Between 2000 and 2007, more than 80% of U.S. counties have slipped in standing against what researchers term the international frontier: the life expectancy of the 10 nations with the lowest mortality.

Poverty across Southern California declined significantly during the first seven years of the decade, a period marked by a booming economy, gentrifying neighborhoods and soaring housing prices, according to census data released Tuesday. Bucking a national trend, Los Angeles County's poverty rate dropped notably between 2000 and 2007, the data showed, with the percentage of residents living below the federal poverty level falling from 17.9% in 2000 to 14.7% last year. Similar declines occurred in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

Robert Henderson said he was not shocked by reports that Rep. Walter R. Tucker III has been indicted on charges of taking bribes--but, like most Compton residents, he complained that the city's always getting a bad rap. "Nobody's really surprised. Seems like something's always happening here," said Henderson, a security guard in the Compton shopping plaza where Tucker, a Democrat, has his district office.

Saying Los Angeles County is in "significant financial distress," a state panel tentatively ruled Tuesday that county officials can slash general relief payments by 25% to more than 90,000 poor and homeless recipients. Relieved county officials--desperate to ease their worst-ever financial crisis--hailed the decision. They already have spent $25 million of the anticipated savings by cutting minimum welfare payments during the rest of the fiscal year.

June 9, 1993 | PETER V. UEBBEROTH, Peter V. Uebberoth is a member of the RLA board of directors.

A few weeks ago, the volunteers at RLA were given their first real civics lesson, compliments of the Los Angeles City Council. As a nonprofit organization that promotes economic development, we were invited to appear before the council and report on our activities. It was, for RLA, the opportunity to tell an exciting story.

As a waitress for an Inglewood soul food restaurant, Normene Woods found it difficult to save money being a single mother with two teenage sons at home. With a monthly income of about $1,400 including tips, Woods qualified for rental assistance on her three-bedroom apartment. Her goal to buy a residence seemed out of reach.

Residents welcome new services like a city library branch, a family-style restaurant and the proposed business and cultural development of the area surrounding the famed Watts Tower. Still, the community's unemployment rate is at least 20% and nearly half of its residents live below the poverty line. And it faces this continued economic struggle amid dramatic population shifts.